The most helpful favourable review

The most helpful critical review

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 starsOlivia and her friends hit the spot
A Celebration In SongA Celebration In Song finds Olivia in great form vocally and together with her friends she has put together a stong set of thought provoking songs.Anyone who has been through difficult times recently whether emotionally or physically will find something to relate to in these wonderful lyrics.The highlights are Find A Little Faith with the...

3.0 out of 5 starsIt's for charity.
It seems that most of Olivia Newton-John's releases of the last few years have either been for charity or are part of something else she's trying to sell. Don't get me wrong, they've mostly been very good. It's just that it would be nice if she found a batch of songs she liked and made a 'proper' album, that's all.

A Celebration In SongA Celebration In Song finds Olivia in great form vocally and together with her friends she has put together a stong set of thought provoking songs.Anyone who has been through difficult times recently whether emotionally or physically will find something to relate to in these wonderful lyrics.The highlights are Find A Little Faith with the timeless Sir Cliff Richard - Olivia and Sir Cliff have performed together many times and always blend well , Reckless with John Farrar takes Olivia back to her Physical era and has John's production stamp all over it - wonderful to hear these two making music together again even if it is John's original track with Olivia's recently added vocal. Angel In The Wings is lovely , something I think we can all relate to and beautifully sung by Olivia and Jann Arden.A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to Olivia's Cancer and Wellness project so it's all for a good cause too.I guess you realise I'm a huge fan - Well done Olivia

For those who want to hear Olivia belting out up-tempo songs such as You're the one that I want or Physical, there's nothing here to please them unless they also enjoy her mellow music. Olivia is not young anymore, although the cover picture might delude you into thinking otherwise. As a general rule, most singers find that their vocal range narrows with age, and that this shows most noticeably with up-tempo songs, hence they develop a preference for singing ballads. Thus, I am not surprised at the lack of up-tempo songs, especially as Olivia has always enjoyed singing ballads anyway.

The selection of duet partners is interesting, although there are few with a truly international status to compare with Olivia, Barry Gibb (the heart knows) and Cliff Richard (Find a little faith) being the most famous globally; Cliff is not as famous in America as he is in many other parts of the world, but he has a stronger following than I once believed. The remaining duet artists include John Farrar (Reckless), who has been part of Olivia's career since the beginning, as well as some top Australian singers, some of whom have achieved varying degrees of international success. I know of Melinda Schneider (Courageous) only because I imported some Australian country albums, including one of hers, direct from Australia in the days when I had a job and plenty of money. It is great to find her here. Another Australian country singer, Keith Urban (Sunburned country), made his name in American so is more famous internationally than Melinda/

The final track (Beautiful thing) is a solo offering written and recorded by Brenda Emmett, who was in her early thirties when she lost a long battle against cancer. Based on this song, I'd certainly like to hear more of her music.

If you enjoy listening to a collection of easy-listening ballads without any interruptions by faster songs, you should enjoy this album, as I do.

It seems that most of Olivia Newton-John's releases of the last few years have either been for charity or are part of something else she's trying to sell. Don't get me wrong, they've mostly been very good. It's just that it would be nice if she found a batch of songs she liked and made a 'proper' album, that's all.

That ACIS is as good as it is, we should probably be grateful for, because it doesn't sound like that much effort has gone into it's making! Take the inclusion of two tracks from her shocking 2002 Aussie duets album '(2)'. I mean, considering the many wonderful duets O has recorded over her lengthy career, why were these, two of the worst tracks on the album, chosen? Keith Urban, once one of the hottest names in country music, once, I said, joins O on the loathsome 'Sunburned Country', a startlingly badly written 'homage' to their homeland, rendered even more ludicrous by their both living in LA most of their professional lives! the horrid thing lasts nearly 6 minutes and is poorly performed by O and Urban.

'Never Far Away' with Richard Marx is even worse. A vile, tuneless, warbly monstrosity that never kicks off in it's seemingly endless 4 and a half minutes. I mean, if she was going to pinch songs from '(2)', why didn't she pick the Darren Hayes or Human Nature ones? They're at least bearable.

Amy Sky, more of a life partner than songwriter to Olivia these days, produces the album and has written some of the songs. Her only vocal performance is on the traditional 'The Water Is Wide' with Olivia and RyanDan. It's a bit of a mish-mash, no focus at all, just too many trembly voices on one song. Sky contributes 'Angel In The Sky', for Olivia and Jann Arden. It's pleasant enough but like much of the album, cliches rain down like confetti. There's much talk of 'not giving up', 'finding faith' and 'walking on', the latter a reference, one amongst many, to the Great Walk To Beiijing, which O recently completed in aid of her Cancer Centre Appeal.

Melinda Schneider, a name new to me, gives us 'Courageous' (told you!), a lovely song made even better by her sweet voice. It's awful to say, but when Olivia joins her on the second verse, she actually spoils it! It sounds like Olivia recorded her part on the Great Walk, so hoarse and flat she sounds. Her 'walk ons' on the chorus are pitifully weak.

She's in better form with Cliff on 'Find A Little Faith'. They've always worked well together and this is actually one of their better efforts, believe it or not. Her duet with Barry Gibb, 'The Heart Knows' is Bee Gees by numbers, though, and the song sounds like it's been cut short for some reason.

'Reckless' with John Farrar has long been a fan fave and a song we'd hoped Olivia would cover. Now she has and it's... OK. Certainly not bad, but like much of ACIS, there's something missing.

Two of the brighter moments come in 'Isn't It Amazing' with Sun and 'Right Here With You' with Delta Goodrem. The former is the sweet pop Olivia used to rule at and the latter, cliches to one side, is one of the few duets here where the artists really blend together and put their backs into it.

And that's largely it. As I said, it's probably better than it has to be, and it's certainly better than '(2)', but it would be nice if next time Olivia took a little more time and care. I appreciate there was limited time in putting this out along with the walk, but Olivia really shouldn't be skimping on her talent this way. And do a proper album now, please, Olivia!